A huge inflatable vehicle as long as a 23-floor skyscraper is tall has become the world's largest airship in its bid to serve as a stratospheric satellite, or "stratellite," according to its developers.

The 235-foot (72 m) long airship, known as the Bullet 580, has a top speed of 80 mph (129 km/h) and can serve as a high-flying sentinel that stays aloft for long periods of time. Getting the new sky behemoth inflated required six hours inside Garrett Coliseum in Montgomery, Ala.

"Our airships are radically different designs that move beyond the performance limitations of traditional blimps or zeppelins by combining advanced technology with simple construction and the ability to fuel with algae, protecting our environment," said Michael Lawson, chairman and CEO of E-Green Technologies.

The airship is designed to carry payloads of up to 2,000 pounds (907 kg) at altitudes of 20,000 feet (6,096 m). Any cargo aboard the airship would sit within an outer envelope made from a new type of Kevlar, or the same material used to build bulletproof vests. That allows the envelope to have a width just one-sixteenth of an inch thick, but still be 10 times stronger than steel.

Airships have undergone a resurgence of interest as both military and civilian operators eye their cost-efficient operations compared to traditional fixed-wing aircraft. But even the modern record-holder for size dwindles in comparison to airships back in their heyday, such as the 804-foot (245 m) Hindenberg.

E-Green Technologies considers the Bullet 580 as the first in a wave of airships in production for commercial use. It acquired the airship's developers, 21st Century Airships, in November 2009.

2. Stratosphere extends up to 131,000 above the Earth. The average temperature remains steady at -56ø C up to an altitude of 82,000 feet. Above this altitude, the temperature rises. Jet streams there move in a horizontal motion and at lower speeds, perhaps 100 miles per hour. A significant feature of the stratosphere is the ozone layer, which is located between 52,500 ft and 105,000 ft above the Earth. This layer protects the Earth by absorbing harmful ultraviolet radiation from the sun.

If this craft has a top speed of 80mph, going west in the north hemisphere is going to be a chore. Some "bullet". Dollars to doughnuts, some environnmental whacko will complain about the sanctity of the ozone layer.

Getting commercial airship production up and running is expected to create hundreds of textile industry jobs in Alabama, according to a statement by E-Green Technologies. It might also lead to aerospace and aviation jobs in Central Florida and Northern California, where the company hopes to set up operational centers.

For an airship that is 235-ft long, that is not a bad payload. My question is how many cubic feet of lifting gas is in the lifting cells. The ratio of lifting gas to weight is the real determining factor of whether this puppy has some serious lfting capability.

28
posted on 05/24/2010 11:04:44 AM PDT
by Army Air Corps
(Four fried chickens and a coke)

Irrelevant. My point is that there are a lot of materials/wealth invested in a vehicle with a very small payload. I'v guessing that this thing cost a lot more than a couple of semi's with a payload of 80,000 lb each.

34
posted on 05/24/2010 11:10:29 AM PDT
by from occupied ga
(Your most dangerous enemy is your own government,)

And those semi’s do not have to lift any of their load off the ground. Also, an airship does not have lifting surfaces (wings) to provide lift. All lift in an airship comes down to the amount of mass that a volume of lifting gas can lift; the more cu-ft of gas, more lift.

40
posted on 05/24/2010 11:16:34 AM PDT
by Army Air Corps
(Four fried chickens and a coke)

Kalinin K-7 It was actually a great deal smaller than it appears in the retouched propaganda pic but still one of the largest aircraft of its time. The specialty model manufacturer Anigrand has a rather pricey 1/144th scale model of it.

It was actually a Russian plane and it did fly. It was about 1/3 as large as it appears in the retouched photo. Here is some more fanciful artwork of the scaled-up K-7, including a dogfight with a UFO.

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